CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE As a 13-year veteran in the Kansas City comedy scene, D.C. Young represents the top of the local comedy food chain.
Dressed in matching black shirt and pants, the African-American comic sits down at a small table in the lobby with me. Under his hat and glasses, his face exudes confidence, and possibly comic wisdom. "The industry won't listen to you until you've put in at least 10 years," Young says. He started at Stanford's in Westport just like all of
Pulling into the parking lot, I feel sweat beading in my palms. After speaking with host McGinnis, I wait patiently with 19 other comics to see the night's schedule. I'm fifth on ...
D. C. Young, headliner based in Kansas City, does an impersonation of Forrest Gump selling condoms. When Young played a club in Mountain Home, Ark., he actually stayed in a motel called Uncle Tom's Cabins.
Westport just like his compatriots and moved through the ranks extremely fast — open-micer to emcee in a month, a feature in six months and in three years he was headlining shows.
Young received standing ovations at the feature level. One time, he was scheduled to feature for Jimmie "Dy-no-mite" Walker for five nights. After the second night, Jimmie Walker didn't want to follow Young anymore and had him taken off the line-up. Got paid for the whole week. He says he learned everything he knows about comedy from three guys in the Kansas City scene: David Naster, Emery Emery and Elliott Threatt. He tries to do the same thing for comics coming up in Kansas City and takes local features on the road with him any opportunity he gets. His advice for the open-micers, "Find your voice; that's the difference between a struggling comic and a working comic." That advice encompasses stage presence, delivery and inflection.
Mike Smith, Kansas City, Kan. feature comic, drives an imaginary car around Kansas City in one of his jokes.
His words of wisdom? "Even after 13 years, I still have a lot to learn." Young says. He adds, "Arsenio Hall is an asswipe."
First-time performer
Armed with advice from multiple newbies and seasoned pros, I prepare to tackle my first three-minute set. I sit at my desk at home, jotting down ideas and trying to structure jokes for about two hours. In that time I come up with seven questionable jokes. Writing structured jokes with a setup and punch line is much harder than it sounds. I only have about 10 minutes to practice the jokes out loud before driving to Kansas City for open mic night the next Tuesday.
the list, so at least it will be over fast. The emcee, Jesse Turney, opens the show at 8:15 p.m., and before I have time to get nervous, I hear, "Please welcome to the stage a first-time performer, Chris Crawford!" I jump up on the stage, with set list in hand and start stumbling through my first joke. I try to look out into the audience of 12 people, but the spotlight
is too bright.
"This is why I can't date dumb girls ever again. I went to the Ozarks with my girlfriend a couple of years ago and one day we went swimming. My girlfriend liked this lady's swimsuit and asked her where she got it. The lady said she got it in Brazil. My girlfriend responded, 'I've always wanted to go to Europe.' "
There's a pause and then I get a laugh. I look at my list and notice my hand is slightly shaking. By my fourth joke, I notice that I get a big laugh.
"I never got the Calvin peeing on Chevy or Calvin peeing on Ford stickers. But I saw one that out-classed them both. I swear, when I was stopped at a stoplight in Lawrence one day, the back window of the truck in front of me had a Calvin peeing on a crucified Jesus Christ sticker. And I couldn't figure out if the driver was anti-Jesus or pro-golden showers." I plowed through my jokes and walked off the stage to sympathetic cheers for a nervous first-time performer.
The punch line
Feature comic Mike Baldwin said in his set the week before, "Once you get onstage and make people laugh, it's addictive." I agree. Though I stumbled through poorly-rehearsed jokes, when I heard people laugh, my adrenaline kicked in.
Callback: A joke with a punch line that refers to a joke you did earlier in your set.
Set: Your collection of jokes; a noun.
To bomb: do really badly; this is where there is a danger of tomato peltage.
Punch line: The funny part of a joke; what you're supposed to laugh at.
**Setup:** The explanation part of the joke; the exposition of a situation or story.
Later that night, Gillespie and Glaser mixed new and older material into solid sets that接待 laughter. A comic introdrew steady laughter. A comic introduced as "Chuck Bucket" performed a set dressed in a suit and paper mache banana mask. Young came up toward the end of the night to roast McGinnis in celebration of his $40^{th}$ birthday. There's nothing like getting ripped to shreds by the people that care about you the most.
It's hard not to appreciate how brave these people are to go up night after night with material they think is hilarious, only to perform a joke to a reaction of dead silence.
No matter how funny your friends tell you that you are,performing stand-up comedy is a complicated art that takes practice, patience and a thick skin.
(above) Chris Crawford, Jayplay writer and Overland Park senior, makes his comedic debut at Open Mic Night on Oct. 26. The spotlight confused and disorientated Crawford. (left) A comic introduced as "Chuck Bucket" performs a routine as a Fruit of the Loom banana.
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